Tekever to open Cahors facility in France in 2026

Tekever estimates that the Cahors facility in France will be “fully operational in the fourth quarter of 2026”. The project, part of a €100 million investment by the Portuguese drone manufacturer in that country, is expected to create 100 jobs.

Announced in May during ‘Choose France’, an event promoted by President Emmanuel Macron, the Cahors unit already has a start date. “The project will be presented in the first quarter of 2026 and we expect to be fully operational in the fourth quarter of 2026”, an official source at Tekever told ECO/eRadar.

According to the same source, “the new production unit in Cahors is a very substantial part of the €100 million investment plan in France by 2030 and the creation of 100 highly specialised jobs”.

“It is also important to highlight the ripple effect that this investment will have. We work closely with the sector’s ecosystem and local authorities, integrating French technology and knowledge and boosting the local economy and the region’s development”, he points out.

Later this year, in the United Kingdom, the Portuguese unicorn announced a five-year investment of €470 million, which includes the construction of a fourth production unit in this market, in Swindon, also scheduled to open next year.

In France, Tekever has already conducted a sea demonstration with the French Navy of the capabilities of its AR3 EVO system. The drone — which can take off and land in spaces as small as 25 square metres, including the decks of small ships, and is intended for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, as well as search and rescue operations — was fully installed and activated on board the Dixmude, a Mistral-class helicopter carrier of the French Navy, having successfully taken off and landed on the deck while underway.

“This demonstration, in real maritime conditions, represents an important milestone for Tekever and constitutes solid proof of concept, demonstrating the robustness, reliability and operational value of the system for naval forces seeking permanent, flexible and low-risk aerial information at sea”, said Nadia Maaref, director of Tekever France.

The “success of this first demonstration” which, according to the company in a statement, “paves the way for future evaluations, namely operations from the coast or traffic light stations, to support rapid response maritime surveillance”.

In February, during Macron’s visit to Portugal, it was reported that Tekever was one of the Portuguese companies with which the French President was going to close deals in the area of defence, as compensation for the Portuguese Army’s acquisition of 36 armoured combat vehicles, the Caesar produced by KNDS in France.

“We do not comment on ongoing contracts or negotiations”, is the only response from an official source at Tekever when asked about possible ongoing negotiations with the French state.